May 1 marks the 61st anniversary of broadcasting legend Larry King’s first radio broadcast at WAHR in Miami Beach in Florida. Since then he’s conducted more than 60,000 interviews on both radio and TV, most famously for 25 years on CNN.
After stepping back from his regular show on CNN in 2010, King returned to the airwaves in 2012, founding the Ora TV production company in conjunction with Mexican businessman Carlos Slim. The following year, Ora signed a deal with controversial Russian media conglomerate Russia TV to carry his “Larry King Now” and “Politicking” shows.
To mark his 61 years of broadcasting, King, now 84, recently sat down to discuss the highs and lows of his illustrious career, the “fake news” phenomenon, his views on Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, and what keeps him going after so many years in the business.
Adhwan Alahmari: You’re celebrating your 61st year working in media. How does it feel to have been in the business for so long and still be working?
Larry King: I never thought I would last for so long! I thought I could retire in 2010 when I left CNN, but I couldn’t, and so we came up with Ora for more than six years now. I think it keeps me going, I love what I do, I love asking questions, and I had no idea that I would be on the air for 61 years.
AA: Do you think it’s really possible for someone who works in the media to ever really retire?
LK: It’s hard to retire from the media, I don’t call it work. I love what I do and I love meeting people. I don’t know what I’d retire to.
AA: Looking back at your career, what would you say the worst moment for you was on radio or TV?
LK: My first day on radio was scary because I didn’t know what to say. I’d just been given a new name, (after the station general manager insisted he choose something more memorable than his birth name of Larry Ziegler), I was nervous. I always wanted to be on the radio, but I didn’t think I could talk well. I couldn’t say anything. The general manager said: “This is the communication business. Communicate!”
So I turned on the microphone, and I told the audience what was happening, that I’d just gotten a new name, that I’d wanted to be on radio all my life, and that I was nervous!
Since then, I’ve never been nervous. I have complete confidence in myself on the air. I love what I do. So I would say that my worst moment was my first moment.
AA: If you had your time again, would you still choose to work in media, or would you choose something else?
LK: I’d still work in the media. I love what I do. But, if I couldn’t have done that, I think I’d have been a standup comedian. I do a lot of that — comedy and storytelling — when I go out speaking, and I’ve done a comedy tour in the past. But my favorite job would still be to work in the media. There’s nothing like communicating with and interviewing interesting people for a living.
AA: From all your years working in radio and TV, who was your favorite guest?
LK: It’s very hard to pick one; you can say Frank Sinatra, Marlon Brando, Martin Luther King and Nelson Mandela. In the entertainment field, Sinatra and Brando would be the top two.
AA: You’ve conducted more than 60,000 interviews. Who do you regret not being able to interview during your career?
LK: Fidel Castro. I thought I could arrange a meeting with him when I went to Cuba some years ago, but (ultimately) we couldn’t make it happen. Castro led his country for more than 60 years, and I do not think any other leader could have done that. Forget what you think of him politically, he would have been fascinating to talk to, but I never got to meet him.
AA If and when you were to finally retire, who would you pick for your last interview?
LK: I’d like to be old enough to meet “the president not yet born.” I would like to meet German Chancellor Angela Merkel. She is a fascinating woman; she has a lot of power, she’s maybe the most powerful person in Europe. I also like to meet the prime minister of England, Theresa May. She is also fascinating to me, as is French President Emmanuel Macron.
AA: Do you think you will interview Saudi Arabi’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman?
LK: Oh, I would love to interview him! I would like to have an interview with King Salman, and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
AA: Who helps you to prepare your interview questions?
LK: No one tells me the questions, I make up my own questions, but (I have a staff) that give me facts about people. The staff I am working with is the best. We had the biggest staff at CNN, but (my current) staff is the best. They give me preparation and I make my own questions.
The most important thing in questioning is listening to the answers, because often answers bring up follow-up questions.
AA: Why did you accept Russia Today’s offer to anchor a show on their network?
LK: I didn’t do it; Russia Today made an agreement with Ora. I own a percentage of the company but not the majority, and they licensed my program. They never ever interfere with it. At my “Politicking” show, Russia and Putin are often criticized, butthey have never (edited that criticism) out. I’ve never been edited.
AA: Did you face any editing and interference when you were at CNN?
LK: Never. I’ve been very lucky. In all my years I’ve never been told what to ask, what to do, who to be against or not to be against.
AA: What do you make of the “fake news” trend we’re witnessing in the media today?
LK: In all my years in CNN and at Ora, I’ve never said a word that is fake. There’s opinionated news — MSNBC and FOX are opinionated — but fake news I’ve never seen.
AA: Do you think that traditional media are under threat from social media? Or do you think they complement each other?
LK: On social media, everyone has an opinion, everyone gives information, and people use it a lot. I don’t pay much attention to it, but anonymous people sending in their opinions are fine.
The media is fine, (but) I’m sad that newspapers are going away in America, as well as books and encyclopedias, because everything has become dependent on the Internet. It’s a changed world.
AA: Do you think print media will disappear?
LK: I hope print doesn’t disappear, I love print. I’ve written a column for years for USA Today and the Miami Herald. I’m sorry that our kids don’t read newspapers. That’s sad to me. I have teenage boys. I never see them reading newspapers, they get all their information from their iPhone and from television. But you can’t stop time, and the technology advances.
AA: You’ve been criticized in the past for not interrupting your guests when they needed to be interrupted.
LK: I don’t believe in interrupting, but I’ve never been afraid to ask any question. I just ask it in a different manner to other people. I am not confrontational.
I am a journalist, I am curious. I want to know everything about everything. I can’t tell people what to like and what not to like. I do the show my way, and I love what I do. You can either like me or not like me, you can be informed or not informed. I will say this: if you watch any interview of mine, you will learn a lot more than you knew before it started.
AA: What makes Larry King different (and more famous) than other interviewers?
LK: I don’t know why I’m different, I just do me. I don’t analyze myself. Someone told me years ago: “The only secret in your business is that there is no secret. Be yourself.” I’ve always been myself, so I can’t write down what I do, I don’t know how I do it. I just know I love to communicate, I love broadcasting, I love radio, I love television, I love print, and I love the whole business of communication. If you like what I do, you like it, and if you don’t, I can’t make you like it.
AA: What makes you different as an interviewer?
LK: I’ve thought about that a lot. I think it’s just that I don’t pretend to be an intellectual. I don’t have an agenda. I’m very curious. I ask short questions. I leave my ego at the door. I’m an everyman, and my guests have responded to that over the years. I can be as interested in a conversation with someone I meet on the street as I am in a conversation with the president. I like talking to people and hearing their stories. I ask questions (about subjects) that the average person wants to know about, maybe doesn’t think about, but clearly wants to know about.
AA: Did you watch Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s interview on “60 Minutes” on CBS?
LK: Of course, he was very good. I’m really interested in what he does. He’s changing the country and I see the big things coming to Saudi Arabia, things we have not seen before.
I see Saudi Arabia changing rapidly, it’s almost a kind of revolution. He is a special young man. I love people who transform, I love people who change the landscape, and I think that this is what Prince Mohammed bin Salman is doing. I wish him the best.
AA: What is your advice for people in the media, for those who want to be as great as Larry King?
LK: Always be yourself and never give up. If someone tells you, you can’t be in and you believe them, then you can’t be in, if you want it you’ll get it. There’s always a room in the media for talent. You can make it if you’re good at it and if you want it.
AA: You’ve experienced various health scares, from type 2 diabetes to prostate and lung cancer. How have you been affected by such scares?
LK: Everything that’s happened to me has made me be a healthier person. I gave up smoking cigarettes. I try to eat right. I try to keep my body and mind in shape. It also forces me to get regular checkups, which is how I picked up the lung cancer at a very early stage. I’m very health-aware. I’m not a hypochondriac, but I’m very health-aware. I’ve been very lucky.
My work and my family keep me going, and keep me alert. I think the fact that I keep on working keeps me young. I don’t know where my stamina comes from, but I still have a lot of it.
Originally published in Asharq Al-Awsat
